Archive - April, 2010

By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Bible Commentary, Luke Written on April 28, 2010

Be a Miracle

I believe that God can (and does) perform miracles in this world at various times and places, often (but not always) in response to the prayers of His people.

However, as followers of Jesus, we need to realize that God often wants to work in and through us in “non-miraculous” ways, which are actually quite miraculous. It all depends on our Spirit-inspired creatively and our definition of a “miracle.” Let me give some examples.

Many churches pray for God to heal people who have cancer. But maybe God wants you and your church to love and entertain children who have cancer. Or maybe God wants you to set up free medical clinics for cancer victims in your community. Or maybe you can offer help to people who smoke and eat too much cancer-causing foods.

Many churches have building funds, and ask the people to pray about how much God wants them to give to it. But maybe, rather than pay for a new church building, God wants you to feed the poor in your community. The average church building costs at least $1,000,000. Do you know how many people that would feed? At $10 per meal, that’s 100,000 people you could feed! Not even Jesus fed that many!

Maybe, rather than praying for God to miraculously keep troubled marriages together, you can set up free marriage counseling through your church, which includes things like free babysitting, budgeting help, anger management, conflict resolution, and other things that married couples struggle with. For a couple in trouble, another couple offering to help is a miracle.

Maybe, rather than praying for God to bring people to your church to fill the pews on Sunday morning, you can go to their houses and change the oil in their car, mow their lawn, or help replace shingles on the roof.

These are just a few ideas. The possibilities for miracles in your community are endless. But most often, they don’t occur by praying for them. Pray if you want to, but I say, “Stop praying for miracles, and just go be one.” It’s true…maybe you can’t feed 500 people…but you can feed one, and you will be a miracle to that person.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:31-37.

By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Books I'm Reading, Mission Written on April 24, 2010

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No More Head Trips

I recently read Charles Foster’s book, The Sacred Journey, which, according to the back cover, is a book about calling Christians to go on a pilgrimage.

Prior to reading it, I imagined it to be a book about going on a metaphorical pilgrimage, a spiritual trip within your mind. You know…recognizing that we are all “on a journey” and how we can take certain “steps” to ”progress” in our life of “following Jesus.”

But it became quickly clear to me that this is not what Foster meant at all. In his book, he calls Christians to go on a literal pilgrimage. Yes, that’s right. Getting off our butts, packing a bag (or just a change of clothes), and setting out (on foot is preferable) to go somewhere. The destination, he says, doesn’t really matter, because it’s the journey that counts. Foster’s book explains the biblical basis behind this idea, and recounts many of his own pilgrimage stories.

I kept on waiting for him to say, “Now if you can’t go on a literal pilgrimage, you can always stay home and go on a metaphorical, spiritual pilgrimage.” He got close to this in the last chapter, but he never really came out and said any such thing.

And so I became very uncomfortable with the book. I have a wife and three young kids. I have a job. I can’t go traipsing off into the wilderness just to see what happens. Sure, I may connect with God, but I may also lose my job, my house, and maybe my family. He didn’t speak about how his own wife and kids handle his frequent journeys other than to say that he leaves them behind and misses them (p. 159). And of course, he writes books as a job, so he can take that with him. If I tried to take my job with me…well, I’d get put in prison. Those of you know what I do understand what I mean.

So while I enjoyed the book, and was challenged by it, I must conclude that most of us do not have the luxury to be a nomad.

But aside from that, is what he is calling for truly biblical? Certainly it is true that the Bible is chock full of examples of nomads, pilgrimages, and journeys. Yes, Jesus and Paul moved about. Yes, followers of Jesus have nowhere to lay their head. I can’t deny it.

But it seems to me that nobody in Scripture ever went somewhere just so they could connect with God, learn something about themselves, or grow on the journey. Whenever God’s people go somewhere in Scripture, it is so they connect with people, or more specifically, to connect people with God. A biblical pilgrim is not one who embarks on a journey to find himself, find God, or visit a holy site. Rather, a biblical pilgrim is one who embarks on a journey to find others.

So our “going” must be with people in mind. Foster did bring this out somewhat. For example, he says, “The purpose is not primarily to ‘inquire,’ but to meet: the ‘wise men’ are all the people you bump into, particularly if they’re on heroin and state benefits” (p. 141). But such statements are rare. I wish he would have elaborated and emphasized this point more.

He said over and over that the destination is not what is important; it was the journey that mattered. However, he seems to have made the journey the destination. To me, the significance of the journey is not the journey itself, but the people on the journey. It is not “Where are you going?” or even “How are you going?” that matters. Rather, the real questions are ”Who are you going with?” and “Who are you going to?”

And I think if you answer these questions, you will still go on pilgrimage, but it may not be to Jerusalem, Canterbury, or Rome. Instead, you may find yourself traveling to the next cubicle, the neighbor’s house, or the closest bar.

By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Luke Written on April 23, 2010

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The Ingrown Gospel

Ingrown toenails are painful. They make it difficult to walk and wear shoes.

There is also such a thing as an ingrown gospel, and it is just as painful.

The gospel, by its very nature, demands input from outside and demands to be put out in culture. If your gospel is not taking you out into the world to love, serve, and befriend those who would not “fit” in your church, and if you never allow someone from the outside to criticize or challenge your life, or your church, you have an ingrown gospel.

And if you are never taking the gospel into other cultures, settings, and situations to see how the gospel both transforms and redeems that culture, and is itself transformed by the culture, you have an ingrown gospel.

For many Christians, the gospel is only about their own salvation. They know they are saved because they have believed in Jesus for eternal life, and while they wait to get swept up into heaven at death or the rapture, they sit around with painted smiles, singing hymns and attending church. Such a life is not a gospel life. This is not being a gospel light, but gospel lite. If the light is the gospel, the church has become a basket, not to carry it in, but to hide it from the world (see Matt 5:15).

The first step to correcting an ingrown gospel is similar to correcting an ingrown toenail. You gotta dig it out, which can be painful. One way to dig out the gospel is to invite input from the outside. We must invite criticism. Painful, harsh, criticism. Allow it to be anonymous even, if that will make it more honest. I know churches that actually pay atheists and people of other religions to attend their church and write a critical report of their visit. Maybe you could bring in Christians from another church tradition or from the other side of the world to come and find fault with how your church is accomplishing (or not accomplishing) your mission.

Once the criticism is received, we must not respond angrily in self-defense, but must move outside our borders, and take the gospel to others. We must bless, love, serve, encourage, heal, and restore.

This entire process is seen in Luke 4:18-30. Jesus taught the gospel in 4:18-21. He then corrected the people on how they were not accomplishing it (4:23-27). The goal, of course, was to challenge them to become participants with Him in being a blessing to the world (cf. Bailey 2008:166). Instead, they tried to kill Him (4:28-30).

How do we respond to critics? Could it be that they are right? Has it ever occurred to us that the voice of the critics may actually be the voice of Jesus?

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:20-30.

By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus, Luke, Mission Written on April 10, 2010

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The Mission of Jesus

Luke 4:16-19 may be my favorite passage in the entire Bible. It is certainly a key text in Luke, and, I would argue, a key text for understanding Scripture.

In it, Jesus explains His mission. He explains what He intends to do in His ministry. If you and I are followers of Jesus, we need to soak our lives in these verses so we can follow these same principles.

Many churches, Christians, and religious leaders “spiritualize” these verses so that they only deal with realities of the Spirit and the afterlife. I believe this is wrong. Jesus was not concerned only with the spiritual side of people, and neither should we. While He did help meet the deep spiritual needs of people, He was also concerned with their physical, psychological, and emotional needs. Luke 4:16-19 deals with all of these.

If we are His followers, we will focus on such things as well.

But it doesn’t mean you have to do exactly the same things Jesus did in exactly the same way. He performed supernatural miracles, whereas, we may perform the same miracles, but through science or technology. We can work to accomplish the same things Jesus accomplished – healing the sick, setting captives free, giving sight to the blind, giving liberty to the captives – but using different methods.

Most Christians are quite uncreative when it comes to “living as Jesus lived.” We see him feed 5000 people and so if we want to “follow Jesus” we think that we have to get five loaves and two fishes, and pray over them until a miracle happens. But that’s not true at all. We can still feed 5000 people, or 50,000, or 500,000 people, simply by living less selfish lives, and being more generous with our money.

For example, let’s say you spend $5 per day on Starbucks coffee and $2 for a scone. Right there you have your five loaves and two fish.

That $7 a day doesn’t seem like much. But over a work week, it comes to $35. Through an organization like Compassion International, you can feed and teach a child in a third world country for $35 per month. So with the money you save, you could give three meals a day (and a biblical education) to four children every month. Over the course of just one year, that is 4320 meals. Jesus fed 5000 people, and we call it a miracle. Each one of us can do almost the same miracle every year for the rest of our lives, simply by giving up our five loaves and two fish (coffee and a danish).

This is just one example. With a little bit of creative thinking and self-sacrifice, we could come up with similar miracles in health, finances, and education. We can accomplish the same things as Jesus did, or even greater things (John 14:12)!

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:16-19.

By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Jesus Written on April 4, 2010

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Happy Sex Goddess Day!

Today on Easter, someone probably said to you, “Happy Sex Goddess Day!”

No? That didn’t happen? It probably did, and you just didn’t know it. The word “Easter” is the English equivalent to the Babylonian “Ishtar” who was the goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. On Ishtar Day, worshippers would rise early in the morning and go the temple for a Sunrise service. Later in the day, they would feast on an Ishtar ham, and the children would go outside and hunt for decorated Ishtar eggs. The eggs were supposed to have come from divine Ishtar bunnies, which were revered for their ability to rapidly reproduce. Ishtar was, after all, a fertility goddess.

The reason the church adapted some of the symbolism and practices is an interesting study, but the simplest explanation is found in our own culture. How many of you have t-shirts that say “God’s Gym” or “Abreadcrumb & Fish”? I’ve seen t-shirts with the Guitar Hero design, but on closer inspection, it says “God is my Hero.” Similarly, “Amazing Grace” t-shirts that look like “American Idol,” or a shirt with the superman logo, but instead of a big “S” it has “JC.” I’ve seen a Staple’s “Easy” button with the word “Jesus” on it instead. Is all this silly, commercialized, “Jesus Junk”? Maybe. But the reason people make this stuff is because it sells. People buy $4.6 billion of this stuff every year. And one reason Christians buy it is because such things help them bring Christ into culture. I would argue that there may be better ways of doing this, but that’s a different subject.

The point is that, 2000 years ago, some Christians decided to combine some of the Ishtar traditions with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Why? For some of the same reasons we have “iPray” hats and “Got Jesus?” bumper stickers. It’s an attempt (a lame attempt maybe) to be contextual.

Some Christians are aware of all this, and thinking of passages like Jeremiah 10:2 (Do not adopt the ways of the Gentiles…) refuse to say “Happy Easter!” Instead, they say “He is Risen!” Or “Happy Resurrection Day!” Those are good things to say today, because, of course, this is the day that Jesus rose from the grave. But I’m also fine with saying “Happy Easter.” Is that because I worship Ishtar? Far from it. Have I adopted the ways of Ishtar? No. Instead, calling today “Easter” reminds me of my redemption. How?

Well, the simple fact that most people don’t know the origins of the word “Easter” shows that a shift has happened over the past 2000 years. The day has been redeemed. Though Easter is a commercialized holiday, most still associate it with Jesus and His resurrection from the grave. Few know that it was not always this way.

Easter reminds me of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Though his readers used to be adulterers, fornicators, slanderers, thieves, drunkards, idolaters, and swindlers, they are not this way any longer. They have been washed. They have been cleansed. They have been purified, sanctified, justified. They are no longer who they used to be. In a word, they have been redeemed.

Similarly, we can talk about the way Ishtar Day used to be. But it is not that way any longer. It has been redeemed, just like you and me.

So, Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!